1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for administering thermal distribution among memory modules in a computing system.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
During operation of a computer, memory modules such as Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMMs), may generate a large amount of heat. Heat generation may cause degradation and eventually failure of DIMMs over time. Current program execution may create a disproportionate distribution of heat generation among many DIMMs or even among modules of one DIMM. That is, in a memory system that includes a number of DIMMs, a subset of the DIMMs may be accessed many more times than other DIMMs in the system. This disproportionate accessing may cause the subset of DIMMs to generate far more heat over time than other DIMMs. Such disproportionate heat generation may effect degradation of the subset of DIMMs more quickly than the other DIMMs in the system. That is, the operating life of each DIMM in the subset of DIMMs that is accessed more frequently is consumed much more quickly than the operating life of each of the other DIMMs. It would be useful, therefore, to distribute heat generation in a more balanced, even manner amongst all DIMMs in a subsystem.